System and method to facilitate sharing of information

• US 20050131721A1
• Filed: 05/04/2004
• Published: 06/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northern Light Web Search
• Original Assignee: Northern Light Web Search
• Inventors: Stewart, Erik Viljo, Henson, John Douglas, Conn, Wilson Grad, Doctorow, Cory Efram
• Granted Patent: US 7,672,974 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A method and system to facilitate sharing of information amongst users comprises assessing a degree of commonality between each of the users. Once a degree of commonality between the users is assessed, information is shared amongst the users having an assessed degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality. In this way, the information being shared is most likely to be useful because it is being shared by users having common traits and characteristics. The degree of commonality can be assessed by comparing areas of interest of the users. The information on the areas of interest may comprise search criteria independently developed by each user to search for information or utilize resources in a network. The degree of commonality may also be assessed by recording each occurrence when a user accepted or did not accept information obtained from each other user.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating sharing of information amongst a group of users of a system, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining information of interest to one user of the group of users;

(b) determining which of the users in the group of users have information corresponding to the information of interest to the one user;

(c) assessing a degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users; and

(d) providing to the one user information corresponding to the information of interest from users in the group of users having a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein step (c) assessing a degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users comprises the step of:

(c1) determining which other users in the group of users have areas of interest corresponding to the areas of interest of the one user.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein step (c1) of determining which other users in the group of users have areas of interest corresponding to the areas of interest of the one user comprises the step of:

(c2) comparing information about the one user to information about other users in the group of users; and

wherein the information about the user and the other users comprises search criteria each user utilizes to independently search for information of interest.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 wherein the search criteria comprises key words and kill words;

and

wherein the step (c2) of comparing information about the user to information about other users comprises the step (c3) of comparing the key words and kill words of the user to the key words and kill words of the other users.

5. The method as defined in claim 3 wherein the search criteria comprises histograms of documents;

and

wherein the step (c1) of comparing information about the user to information about other users comprises the step (c2) of comparing the histograms of documents of the user to the histograms of documents of the other users.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein step (c) assessing a degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users comprises the steps of:

(c1) recording a number of occurrences that the user accepts information from each other user;

(c2) comparing the number of occurrences that the user accepts information from the other users.

7. The method as defined in claim 6 wherein step (c) assessing a degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users comprises the steps of:

(c3) recording a number of occurrences the user does not accept information from each other user;

(c4) comparing the number of occurrences the user does not accept information from the other users.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

(e) if the users having a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality do not have information of interest to the user, defining a first subset of users of the groups of users, said first subset of users having been determined to have a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality;

(f) determining which other users in the group of users have a degree of commonality with respect to the users in the first subset of users. greater than a predetermined degree of commonality; and

(g) providing to the one user information corresponding to the information of interest from users in the groups of users which have a degree of commonality with respect to the users in the first subset of users greater than a predetermined degree of commonality.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 further comprising the steps of:

(h) if the users having a degree of commonality with respect to the first subset of users greater than a predetermined degree of commonality do not have information of interest to the user, defining a second subset of users of the groups of users, said second subset of users having been determined to have a degree of commonality with respect to the first subset of users greater than a predetermined degree of commonality;

(i) determining which other users in the group of users have a degree of commonality with respect to the users in the second subset of users greater than a predetermined degree of commonality; and

(j) providing to the one user information corresponding to the information of interest from users in the groups of users which have a degree of commonality with respect to the user in the second subset of users greater than a predetermined degree of commonality.

10. The method as defined in claim 6 further comprising the step of:

(d1) providing to the one user information corresponding to the information of interest from users in the group of users which have a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality in an order corresponding to the number of occurrences the user accepted information from each other user.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of:

(e) displaying to the one user information corresponding to the information of interest to the one user in an order corresponding to the degree of commonality of the user from whom the information is provided.

12. A system for facilitating sharing of information amongst a group of users connected to the system, said system comprising:

a connection to a network for sending and receiving signals to and from said users;

a database containing information regarding each user in the group of users;

a processor connected to the connection and the database for receiving information from the connection and processing the information in the database;

wherein the connection receives information of interest from one user of the group of users and an identifier of the one user;

wherein the processor receives the information of interest and the identifier of the one user from the connection and compares information stored in the database regarding the one user to information stored in the database regarding the other users to assess a degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each of the other users in the group;

wherein the processor determines which other users in the group of users have information corresponding to the information of interest to the one user; and

wherein the processor sends information signals directed to the one user through the connection, said information signals corresponding to the information of interest of the one user from users having a degree of commonality with the one user greater than a predetermined degree of commonality.

13. The system as defined in claim 12 wherein the database contains a number of occurrences that the user accepted information from each other user;

and

wherein the processor compares the number of occurrences that the user accepted information from the other users to assess the degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users.

14. The system as defined in claim 13 wherein the database contains a number of occurrences that the user did not accept information from each other user;

and

wherein the processor compares the number of occurrences that the user did not accept information from the other users to assess the degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users.

15. The system as defined in claim 12 wherein the information contained in the database comprises search criteria each user previously utilized to independently search for information of interest available on the network;

and

wherein the processor compares the search criteria of the one user to search criteria of the other users to assess a degree of commonality of the one user with respect to each other user in the group of users.

16. The system as defined in claim 15 wherein the processor periodically compares search criteria stored in the database to assess degrees of commonality between the users in the group of users;

and

wherein the processor sends information signals to each of the users, said information signals corresponding to information from other users in the group of users who have been determined to have a degree of commonality which is greater than a predetermined degree of commonality.

17. The system as defined in claim 12 wherein the processor sends information directed to the one user through the connection having a priority corresponding to the degree of commonality between the user and a user from whom the information is provided.

18. The system as defined in claim 12 wherein if none of the users having a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality with the user has information of interest to the user, the processor compares information stored in the database regarding the users having been determined to have a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality with the one user to assess a degree of commonality of these users with respect to other users in the group of users;

wherein the processor sends information signals directed to the one user through the connection, said information signals corresponding to the information of interest of the one user from users having a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality with the users previously determined to have a degree of commonality greater than a predetermined degree of commonality with the user.

19. A method for facilitating sharing of information amongst a group of users of a system, said method comprising the steps of:

a) for one user of the group of users, determining which users in the group of users have information corresponding to information of interest to the one user;

b) determining which other users in the group of users have areas of interest corresponding to the areas of interest of the one user; and

c) providing to the one user information corresponding to the information of interest from users in the group of users which have areas of interest corresponding to the areas of interest of the one user.